Back Home In Derry Acoustic chords by Christy Moore

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Back Home In Derry

Chorus:
C    G    Am     G      Am
Oh oh oh oh oh I wish I was back home in Derry
C    G    Am     G      Am
Oh oh oh oh oh I wish I was back home in Derry

Verse 1:
Am           C
In eighteen-o-three we sailed out to sea
G      D       Am
Out from the sweet town of Derry
Am             C
For Australia bound, if we didn't all drown
G        D     Am
The marks of our fetters we carried
D                C
In our rusty iron chains we cried for our weans
D           Em
Our good women we left in sorrow
Am               C
As the main sails unfurled, our curses we hurled
    G      D      Am
On the English and thoughts of tomorrow

Verse 2:
Am               C
At the mouth of the Foyle, bade farewell to the soil
  G     D       Am
As down below decks we were lying
Am            C
O'Doherty screamed, woken out of a dream
   G     D      Am
By a vision of bold Robert dying
D               C
The sun burnt cruel as we dished out the gruel
D              Em
Dan O'Conner was down with a fever
Am              C
Sixty rebels today, bound for Botany Bay
  G     D      Am
How many will reach their receiver

Chorus:
C    G    Am     G      Am
Oh oh oh oh oh I wish I was back home in Derry
C    G    Am     G      Am
Oh oh oh oh oh I wish I was back home in Derry

Verse 3:
 Am              C
I cursed them to hell as our bow fought the swell,
G      D       Am
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight,
Am            C
White horses rode high as the devil passed by,
   G     D      Am
Taking souls to Hades by twilight,
D               C
Five weeks out to sea, we were now forty-three
D              Em
We buried our comrades each morning
Am              C
In our own slime we were lost in the time
  G     D      Am
Endless night without dawning

Chorus:
C    G    Am     G      Am
Oh oh oh oh oh I wish I was back home in Derry
C    G    Am     G      Am
Oh oh oh oh oh I wish I was back home in Derry

Verse 4:
Am          C
Van Diemen's Land is a hell for a man
G      D       Am
To end out his whole life in slavery
Am            C
Where the climate is raw and a gun makes the law
   G     D      Am
Neither wind nor rain care for bravery
D               C
Twenty years have gone by, I have ended my bond
D              Em
My comrades' ghosts walk beside me
Am              C
A rebel I came, I'm still the same
  G     D      Am
On the cold winds of night you will find me

Outro:
C    G    Am     G      Am
Oh oh oh oh oh I wish I was back home in Derry
C    G    Am     G      Am
Oh oh oh oh oh I wish I was back home in Derry